Who keeps parks usable?

WEAK LINK IN THE CHAIN? UNDERFUNDING OF JOBURG CITY PARKS A MAJ

- Emily Wellman Bain

• Park rangers hamstrung by lack of powers to arrest.

The importance of safe public green spaces within a city cannot be understated, especially in a city plagued by crime, grime, unemployment and a council which is, seemingly, treading water under the direction of its latest leader. Wendy Carstens, chair of the Friends of Melville Koppies Nature Reserve says: "Green spaces provide important areas for exercise, relaxation, meditation, mental health and distressing. The richness of green spaces is also important for early childhood development and offers an essential break from the hi-tech world many children are continually exposed to." So, how well is City Parks and Zoo doing at maintaining these essential green spaces? With challenges including budget constraints, crime, homelessness and vandalism that are beyond control, its struggle to maintain an acceptable level of service provision is understandable, but remains a core function that needs to be upheld.

Many parks are protected by metal fencing that the city is responsible for maintaining.

Two locations where stolen or deliberately damaged fencing causes ongoing headaches for volunteers are Braamfontein Cemetery and Melville Koppies.

Gaps in the fences enabled vandals in March last year to desecrate more than 5,000 graves, including walls where ashes are interned, at the cemetery.

And the continual theft of fencing at the koppies is becoming a major problem.